BJP leaders to hold fresh talks with dissident Karnataka legislators

The talks will be held to defuse the crisis which has rattled BSY govt in Karnataka.

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ITGD Bureau

Panaji

October 8, 2010

UPDATED: October 8, 2010 11:51 IST

Fresh talks with dissident legislators will be held by senior BJP leaders in order to defuse the crisis which has rattled the B S Yeddyruppa government in Karnataka.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa coming out after offering prayers at Rajarajswara Temple at Thalipparamba in Kannur on Thursday, October 8, 2010. PTI

"I will be meeting them (dissidents). There are some issues which would be discussed and settled," Goa's senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar said.

The events are unfolding at Taj Exotica Resort at Benaulim, which has turned into a fortress since last night, with tight security around after around 15 legislators, including nine from BJP, checked in at the resort on Thursday.

Parrikar said that the dissident legislators have certain grievances with the government.

"That does not mean that they are supporting Congress. The Congress has been trying to woo them with all possible means," the former Goa Chief Minister alleged.

In a related development, Karnataka's former Chief Minister H D Kumarswamy has also arrived in the state and is lodged in the same hotel accompanied by local Congress leaders including state Power Minister Aleixo Sequeira and Public Works Department minister Churchill Alemao.

BJP claimed that Karnataka's Tourism minister Janardhan Reddy, who had come to hold talks with unhappy legislators, was not allowed to meet them by Congress leaders including Goa Home Minister Ravi Naik.

"Our MLAs are kept under house arrest. This is very bad. The whole country is watching the development," Janardhan Reddy, Karnataka's Tourism Minister, had told reporters last night.

The dissident BJP legislators met Parrikar last night after he forced his way in the hotel along with 60 activists.

The 29-month-old government plunged into crisis and was reduced to minority yesterday after 14 BJP and five Independent MLAs withdrew support to it prompting Governor H R Bharadwaj to ask the chief minister to seek a trust vote by October 12. The chief minister has said he will take the floor test on October 11.

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